Grain/Water Ratio?

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How Many Quarts per pound of Grain for your Mash?

  • 1.0

  • 1.05

  • 1.1

  • 1.15

  • 1.2

  • 1.25

  • 1.3

  • 1.35

  • More (Explain)

  • Ralph Nader says: Use recycled motor oil to mash with!


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Evan!

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I've got 1.1 qts per pound of grain figured for my 60-minute infusion mash. What do you think about that amount? Should I go higher? I tried searching, but came up empty.
 
Some times I do a thin mash. 1.5.

All depends on the style. I have read that thicker mashes are preferable for maltier beer styles and thinner ones are preferable for drier styles.
 
Depends on a beer. For lighter styles I go up to 1.5 q/lb, but for higher gravity I can only do 1.2 max since I use 5 gal cooler.
 
AdIn said:
Depends on a beer. For lighter styles I go up to 1.5 q/lb, but for higher gravity I can only do 1.2 max since I use 5 gal cooler.


Yeah that too. I am in the same situation.
 
Cool. Thanks. I mash in kettles and MLT's, so size isn't an issue. I'll go 1.2 for the IIPA and 1.3 for the Pilsner
 
I do 1.25 quarts per pound only because I have read that in so many different places. It works for me.
 
From what Jamil was saying in this week's podcast, mash thickness is a relatively small variable relative to things like mash temp. I shoot for 1.25 qts/lb, which I figure leaves me thick enough where I can make adjustments if I miss my temp and still not end up too thin.
 
In How to Brew the author suggests 2 gal to 1lb of grain. This seems way higher that what you guys use. Am I way off or something? What kind of problems come with the mash being too thin?

EDIT: This is wrong it actually says 2 quarts of water per pound.
 
Trappist Artist said:
In How to Brew the author suggests 2 gal to 1lb of grain. This seems way higher that what you guys use. Am I way off or something? What kind of problems come with the mash being too thin?

2 gallons to one pound isn't right; you'd be collecting twenty gallons of runnings without even sparging on a small batch. Are you thinking of 2 quarts per pound? That's a rule-of-thumb I've heard for sparging, but for mashing, that's very thin.
 
Trappist Artist said:
In How to Brew the author suggests 2 gal to 1lb of grain. This seems way higher that what you guys use. Am I way off or something? What kind of problems come with the mash being too thin?

I believe he says 1.5 to 2.0 qts/lb. This is why some of my mashes are thinner...Palmer was the first thing I read. The reasoning is that a mashout can be skipped (relating to this reasoning alone...not talking about the other main effect of mashout..ie preserving fermentable sugar profile) because the grainbed is fluid enough. Although, I used 1.25 qt/lb on my oatmeal stout this weekend and didn't use a mashout. ...guess I should add....no lautering problems.
 
I'll do my smaller beers at 1.5 qts/lb but anything relatively big gets the 1.0 ratio to make everything manageable.
 
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